EXPLAINED: Why Mumbai Indians Cannot Use Their Right To Match Card On Ishan Kishan

Mumbai Indians (MI) were among the teams which managed to retain their core before the IPL 2025 mega-auction. The five-time IPL Champions retained the services of Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Tilak Varma. Bumrah was MI's first-choice retention and he will receive a sum of Rs 18 crore.MI decided against retaining Ishan Kishan. They invested hugely in Ishan during his seven-year stint. MI signed Ishan in the IPL 2018 mega-auction for Rs 6.20 crore. MI splurged huge money for Ishan in the IPL 2022 mega-auction and re-signed him for Rs 15.25 crore.Ishan wasn't expected to get retained by MI and the franchise's decision to release him wasn't a big surprise. MI can re-sign him in the IPL 2025 mega-auction but they will not be able to use their Right to Match (RTM) card on him. Here's why -Under the BCCI's rules, a franchise can retain a maximum of six players. Out of these six, a maximum of five players can be capped. A team can also retain two uncapped players, which will reduce the number of capped retentions to four.Since MI have retained five capped players, they cannot retain any player who has played international cricket in past five years. The five-time IPL Champions can use their RTM card on Arjun Tendulkar, Akash Madhwal, Anshul Kamboj, Kumar Kartikeya or any other player who hasn't played international cricket.MI can also use their RTM card on Piyush Chawla as he last represented Team India in 2012. Those Indian players who haven't played international cricket in the past five years will be categorised in the uncapped category.A sum of Rs 75 crore was deducted from MI's purse and they can spend up to Rs 45 crore in the mega-auction. They have confirmed that Hardik will continue to lead the franchise. He replaced Rohit as MI's captain before IPL 2024.